The Gospel According to St Matthew

Chapter 6

Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount—He teaches the disciples the Lord’s Prayer—They are commanded to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

1 aTake heed that ye do not your balms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the ahypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have bglory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine aalms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall breward thee openly.

5 ¶And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the ahypocritesare: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy acloset, and when thou hast bshut thy door, cpray to thy Father which is in dsecret; and thy Father which eseeth in secret shall freward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain arepetitions, as the bheathendo: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father aknoweth what things ye have bneed of, before ye ask him.

13 aAndblead us not into ctemptation, dbut deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the eglory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 ¶Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to afast. Verily I say unto you, They bhave their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not unto men to afast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall breward thee openly.

19 ¶Lay not up for yourselves atreasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves bbreak through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor bsteal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine aeye be bsingle, thy whole body shall be full of clight.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that adarkness!

24 ¶aNo man can bserve two cmasters: for either he will dhate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and emammon.

25 aTherefore I say unto you, Take no bthought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? aConsider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, ashall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little bfaith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father aknoweth that ye have need of all these things.